Location: Beresford Street, St. Helier
Period: Late 1980s/early 1990s
Fate: Still a nightclub
Regular Tunes: Pump Up The Volume, We Are Family, Teardrops, Sign Your Name, Tired Of Getting Pushed Around, Theme From S'Express, The Only Way Is Up
Situated in Beresford Street, Lords was one of the two leading nightclubs in central St. Helier - the other being Raffles.
Entry to Lords was through one of two sets of double doors (the left-hand pair of which tended only to be opened at the end of the evening to allow the crowd to flood onto the street). Once inside the club the till was to your right. The cloakroom hatch was over to the far left-hand side, just in front of which was the club's largest and busiest bar. At the end of that bar, on the opposite wall, was a small alcove with a couple of ledges on which to balance drinks. At one time there was sofa seating along this wall, but that was removed after a 1990s revamp.
Once you walked past that main bar you were on the dancefloor, which was the second largest in town (the largest being the ballroom sized dancefloor at The Inn On The Park). At either side of the dancefloor were a set of steps leading to a raised area. On the left hand side of this raised section was bench type seating and a few tables.From here the DJ booth overlooked the dancefloor. There was no seating or tables along the top edge, but there was a small bar running about a third of the length of the rear wall.
Coming back down the second set of stairs and off the dancefloor you entered a darker and quieter area, on the right of which was a tiny square shaped bar. Opposite this was a seating area similar in design to the type you'd find in a 1950s diner or 1970's motorway cafe, a formica table with bench seating on either side. There were two of these back-to-back, the wall next to which was deliberately 'lumpy', as if to give the impression of being in a cave, maybe some kind of conceptual hangover from a previous decade? On the flat wall opposite was a collection monochrome photos of the club during the 1960s and 1970s, showing punters of a decidely Mod-ish and Hippy-ish appearance.
The toilets were upstairs.
At weekends there was always a queue for the club by 10pm, leading back towards Wests Centre. After 11pm it started to become difficult to get in.The club was licensed to hold around 400 people, and filled to capacity fast. It was only on weekday nights you could be guaranteed to get in at a later time. Friday - Sunday you had to get there early.
The music in Lords tended to be a combination of house, modern soul and cheesy disco. The crowd always seemed to be about 80% male, a situation not uncommon in Jersey at the time (it was estimated that men outnumbered women 3 to 1 on the island as a whole), but a situation visibly accentuated by the size of the venue. The average age was probably late 20's, and the overwhelming percentage of punters were seasonal workers or settled non-locals hailing from various run-down corners of the British Isles.
Lords is one of the few nightclubs from that 80s/90s period which has survived into the modern age. After undergoing a number of name and style changes over the years it is today a nightclub named La Cala.
Entry to Lords was through one of two sets of double doors (the left-hand pair of which tended only to be opened at the end of the evening to allow the crowd to flood onto the street). Once inside the club the till was to your right. The cloakroom hatch was over to the far left-hand side, just in front of which was the club's largest and busiest bar. At the end of that bar, on the opposite wall, was a small alcove with a couple of ledges on which to balance drinks. At one time there was sofa seating along this wall, but that was removed after a 1990s revamp.
Once you walked past that main bar you were on the dancefloor, which was the second largest in town (the largest being the ballroom sized dancefloor at The Inn On The Park). At either side of the dancefloor were a set of steps leading to a raised area. On the left hand side of this raised section was bench type seating and a few tables.From here the DJ booth overlooked the dancefloor. There was no seating or tables along the top edge, but there was a small bar running about a third of the length of the rear wall.
Coming back down the second set of stairs and off the dancefloor you entered a darker and quieter area, on the right of which was a tiny square shaped bar. Opposite this was a seating area similar in design to the type you'd find in a 1950s diner or 1970's motorway cafe, a formica table with bench seating on either side. There were two of these back-to-back, the wall next to which was deliberately 'lumpy', as if to give the impression of being in a cave, maybe some kind of conceptual hangover from a previous decade? On the flat wall opposite was a collection monochrome photos of the club during the 1960s and 1970s, showing punters of a decidely Mod-ish and Hippy-ish appearance.
The toilets were upstairs.
At weekends there was always a queue for the club by 10pm, leading back towards Wests Centre. After 11pm it started to become difficult to get in.The club was licensed to hold around 400 people, and filled to capacity fast. It was only on weekday nights you could be guaranteed to get in at a later time. Friday - Sunday you had to get there early.
The music in Lords tended to be a combination of house, modern soul and cheesy disco. The crowd always seemed to be about 80% male, a situation not uncommon in Jersey at the time (it was estimated that men outnumbered women 3 to 1 on the island as a whole), but a situation visibly accentuated by the size of the venue. The average age was probably late 20's, and the overwhelming percentage of punters were seasonal workers or settled non-locals hailing from various run-down corners of the British Isles.
Lords is one of the few nightclubs from that 80s/90s period which has survived into the modern age. After undergoing a number of name and style changes over the years it is today a nightclub named La Cala.
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